


DJ Wifi December 2018

by Jarl_Deathwolf



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Kwami Swap, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-09
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-09-14 16:57:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 19,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16916742
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jarl_Deathwolf/pseuds/Jarl_Deathwolf
Summary: A collection of (usually) unconnected one shots centered around the steady and stable relationship between Nino Lahiffe and Alya Cesaire! I usually focus more on the Love Square side of things, but I'm no stranger to DJ Wifi-centric scenes and one shots. I'm eager to explore the relationship between my favorite supporting couple and I hope you'll join me for the journey!





	1. AU

The villain of the day was looming over the sleeping Chat Noir. As he reached for the miraculous ring, an eerie song played on the flute echoed between the buildings. Everyone still conscious - meaning Emeraude Tortue and the akumatized victim - knew what it meant. Faux Fox was somewhere nearby and he was getting ready to attack. 

_Not a moment too soon_ , Alya thought as her bracelet began beeping. The unnatural fog was flowing along the boundary of Shellter’s influence. Free of the fog’s affects, Ladybug was already starting to regain consciousness. 

“Show yourself, Faux Fox! I don’t know how you’ve managed to endure my Slumber Mist’s powers, but no hero is beyond its power. Even the great Ladybug and Chat Noir were no match for me! What hope do _you_ have?”

The fog dropped visibility down to almost nothing, but it did nothing to impede Faux Fox’s voice as it came from the north.

“Dude, you seriously need to chill out.”

The villain’s face split in a maniacal grin. “Fool!” 

At his gesture, a crackling bolt of blue-green lightning thundered into the spot the noise had come from. Alya’s eyes widened in fear as the lightning carved a short lived path through the fog revealing…

...Nothing.

There was only a brief moment for the villain to express his confusion before an orange and white blur barreled into him. In the ensuing scuffle, the Faux Fox wrested the walking stick off of him and tossed it to her.

“Over to you, babe!”

“You’re a lifesaver, babe.” In one smooth motion, she caught it in her free hand and broke it against her shield. Caught inside Shellter, the akuma fluttered pitifully against the green forcefield as Alya bent down to help Ladybug wake up. She was vaguely aware of the fog dissipating and the villain turning back into an old, grumpy man. 

Once she was on her feet, Ladybug purified the akuma and stepped out of Shellter. 

“Faux Fox! Can I get that bandana from you?” 

“Oh yeah! Definitely, dude.” He pulled off a red bandana with black dots from his mouth, yawning as he did so. After Ladybug fixed everything with the miraculous cure, he seemed much more energetic. “Geez, no wonder you dudes went down so quick. Just taking a breather to play the flute without the bandana was enough to make me tired.”

“Great job, Faux!" Alya held out her fist to him. "We still on for patrol tonight?”

With a smile, he bumped his fist against hers. “Wouldn’t miss it.”

“Uh, you guys know that there probably isn’t going to be-” Chat was cut off as Ladybug dragged him away, mumbling something about ‘I’ll explain later.’

“Good luck on patrol, you two. Bug out!”

\----------------------------------

Later that night they were sitting atop the Eiffel Tower, her head in his lap as he played a soothing melody on his flute. She had closed her eyes to lose herself in the music, thankful for these quiet moments together. It was made all the more satisfying since she knew they didn’t need to be on the lookout for any akuma - Hawkmoth never sent out more than one a day. 

The minutes drifted past in a blur before something occurred to Alya.

“You never told me you could play the flute. Sure, I know you love music, but it was always DJing with you.”

Regrettably, the music stopped as he responded wistfully. “It’s sort of a tradition with my family. Grandpa was a local celebrity back in his hometown in Morocco. He taught Dad and Dad taught me.”

“You know, I’m wasn’t half bad with a flute either.” 

The nostalgia that had been in his voice was replaced with excitement “Woah, really? You played? Far out! What changed?”

“Oh, it was just something I did a little of a few years ago. Mom wanted me to learn some music, and I didn’t want to do piano.”

“Can you play something for me?”

“I can try, but I warn you I haven’t even touched one for a year now.”

As she sat up, she saw his gentle smile. “I promise I won’t laugh.”

“Well, here goes…” Playing it safe, she went for a tune that she had used for practice dozens and dozens of times. The flute wasn’t quite the same as the one she had used, but she got the hang of it after a few false starts. 

After she finished, she opened her eyes and looked back at Nino. “What do you think?”

“Well, if I’m ever out of commission and Ladybug needs a fox, I know who I’m sending her to.”

“Thanks babe, but no way that’s happening. You’re irreplaceable.” She leaned forward, and gave him a kiss on the check. “Now come on. We should at least pretend to patrol, just to make it seem like we’re doing something.”


	2. Kwami

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nino and Alya have a little chat with their kwami soon after their identities have been revealed.

“Hey, dude, where should I take her for our first date?”

The turtle kwami’s brow furrowed in thought. “I’m sorry, master, I don’t understand. You both have been on many dates prior to this. How is it your first?”

“Little dude, it’s our first date as superheroes! It’s totally different!”

Which wasn’t entirely true, but it _did_ open up a lot more options for where they could go for a date. Would she be fine with the same old usual thing now that they could go on _super dates_? He winced and decided not to phrase it like that when he talked to her next. She’d be laughing at him for _weeks_. Still, he remembered how much she gushed about how awesome Carapace was before their reveal. Somehow she managed to make him jealous of himself. 

Now he wanted more than anything to live up to the high pedestal she’d put Carapace on. 

“May I suggest a quiet walk in the park, master?”

“We can do that as civilians, dude. I mean something really awesome that only a cool superhero can do.”

“Erm, maybe a picnic then?” Seeing his chosen’s doubting face, he added, “On... the Eiffel Tower?”

“Now you’re talking, dude!”

\------------------------------------

Alya picked up her vibrating phone. “Hey, looks like Nino wants to hang out in costume tonight. You think he’s ready to discuss this whole identities thing now?”

“For sure,” came the tiny voice nestled within her hair, “it took him long enough, though. Then again, turtles aren’t really quick to act and I wouldn’t be surprised if Wayzz was encouraging him to slow down and think things through.” Trixx snorted. “The spoil sport.”

Walking over to her wardrobe, she frowned in thought. Was there really any need to get dressed up? And if she did, should it be for warmth, or should it be pajamas in case she spends the night at his place? 

“Hey, Trixx?”

“Want my advice?”

“Yeah, what do you think-”

“Scream at him.”

Alya sighed. It was weird at first, but she had gotten used to Trixx’s off-the-wall comments and suggestions. Half the time they were useful. The rest of the time… they just made her wonder.

“Why?”

Trixx shrugged his tiny shoulders. “I dunno. Foxes do it and it works for them. Worth a shot, right?”

“I think I’ll just dress warmly.”

“Ooo! Wear the orange puffy jacket! I _like_ that one!”

\----------------------------------

Nino was too busy attempting to light the candles to notice Rena Rouge’s arrival. It took her clearing her throat for him to realize she was there and he fumbled with the lighter he was using. 

“Sorry, babe! I didn’t hear you.”

“I’m not surprised. It’s pretty windy today, isn’t it?”

He watched her take in the scene, feeling his heart flutter with anxiousness. Setting everything up had been… trying. He had to pin down the blanket they’d be sitting on by tying it to some posts and placing rocks on it. The candles were arranged with care, but none of them were lit. The food had gotten cold from both the chilly fall air and the wind Nino was really starting to dislike. 

As she took a seat, he hesitantly followed suit, head bowed. 

“Sorry.”

“For what, babe?”

“I really wanted to treat you to a super date-” _damn, I said it_. She giggled, but got stifled them quickly. “...It didn’t go as planned.”

Her gloved hand pushed his cheek so he was looking back at her.

“Why did you think a,” she bit her bottom lip to fight down a grin, “a _super date_ was even necessary, Nino? Normal dates are just fine.”

“Well, you were always talking about how great Carapace was…”

No longer able to fight it back, she laughed. “Oh my sweet clueless boy. I knew you were Carapace all along. You were just playing catch up and I didn’t want to say anything outright.” She winked at him. “Besides, it was cute to see you get all flustered when I talked you up.”

“Wha- No! How’d you find out?”

She crossed her arms and lifted an eyebrow. “I don’t know, _dude_ , how do you think?” 

“Oh.”

“Don’t worry, though. I think I’m the only one that’s figured it out, and even then it must be my reporter instincts that pieced it all together.”

He put an arm around her and pulled her close. “You _are_ pretty amazing.”

Humming in agreement as she inched closer, she said, “Thankfully I snagged myself a boyfriend just as amazing.”

Atop the Eiffel Tower and a blanket flapping futilely in the wind, they let it all slip from their minds as they gave their kiss the full attention it deserved.


	3. Snooze

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which our heroes fight the greatest villain of all - the alarm.

It was pretty straightforward, in theory at least. Just a double date with their friends surely wasn’t much to ask for. 

Yet, this was the fourth attempt at getting it to work. The first date had fallen through since Nino was called in unexpectedly to fill in at the radio station. A couple weeks later and Marinette’s most demanding professor had thrown a new project on them from out of nowhere, eating up her spare time for the entire week. It took three months for the stars that was their university schedules to line up again, and Adrien cancelled thanks to the unbelievable douchery of his father. 

Alya was not optimistic about their chances of success, fully expecting the date to be called off last minute again. While she would love to meet with her friends again, she also wasn’t looking forward to how early the date would be. Eight in the morning may not seem that bad, but she had to set her alarms for around six if they were going to make sure they had everything ready and giving extra time for arriving. 

“Nino, babe, I don’t think this is going to work.”

“Don’t stress about it. It isn’t the best time, but at least we can look forward to seeing our bros, right?”

“Babe, I’m not even tired. I’m not even in bed usually until midnight at the earliest. And you’re even worse about it than I am! How the hell are we going to pull this off?” She waited for his as he joined her in their shared bed. 

“It’s pretty easy. We just lay down… and drift off to sleep.”

“That’s not a solution, that’s-” His fake snoring cut her off. “Really, Nino? Ugh, fine. I’m going to turn on a movie then.” 

Despite her concerns, the film’s slow pacing and quiet dialogue lulled her to sleep. She was out cold before the credits rolled.

\-------------------------------

The blaring of her phone alarm wrenched her into the waking world. She felt an arm retract from around her waist as Nino rolled over in a futile escape from the noise. Blurry-eyed, she checked the time. Six in the morning. They still had two hours before they had to leave, and she had a few more alarms set. 

She set down the phone and weighed her options. Her next alarm would go off in an hour. The plan had been to use this extra time to reach pinnacle perfection and make sure she was fully awake when they went on this date. 

She snorted and rolled over to spoon Nino. Perfection was overrated. 

\-------------------------------

There wasn’t so much an argument in her head when the second alarm went off so much as there was a sudden burst of emotion. Formless anger was the big one - it was definitely the explanation for how her hand darted out so quickly to turn it off. A healthy dose of confusion and forgetfulness also helped prevent the adrenaline rush that might have happened had she remembered _why_ the alarm was going off. 

Poor Nino didn’t even have a chance to wake up due to the alarm barely having any time to sound out. Even if he had started to stir, he wouldn’t have wanted to move due to his girlfriend securely tethering herself to him. 

As the young couple settled back into sleep, a pair of eyes watched them from above. 

\------------------------------

“I feel as though we should wake them. It is what they would want us to do, yes?” The turtle kwami watched their chosen sleep. It seemed they were blissfully unaware of the alarm that was going off. They had managed to bury themselves under pillows in their sleep, dulling the noise from the phone. 

“Listen, Wayzz. Would it be good to wake them up right now? Yes. Yes it would. But!” She quickly zipped in front of him as he began floating towards them. “You have to ask yourself - which would be _funnier_?”

Wayzz frowned doubtfully. “They have been looking forward to this excursion for quite a while. Surely, Master Nino would prefer to be awakened.” Despite his words, he did not attempt to move past Trixx.

“They’ll definitely make it! And it’s not like Adrien or Marinette won’t wait for them if they are late. But wouldn’t it be hilarious if they had a little freak out to wake them up?” Seeing his doubt only deepen, Trixx rolled his eyes and took a different argument. “Listen - do _you_ want to share the phone’s fate?” 

They looked over towards the phone. After it had been angrily silenced, it had been tossed across the room, onto a stack of decorative pillows. 

“And you know that they’ll just go back to sleep until they have no other choice anyway.”

“...Maybe you’re right, Trixx. Would you care to get some breakfast?” 

\----------------------------------

“Hey! Kit! It’s time to get up!” 

Alya didn’t have time to register her kwami’s words before her phone landed on her face. Holding it away from her, she noticed the time with a rising panic. 

Seven forty-five. They had fifteen minutes before they had to be out the door. How could it have come to this? 

From above two kwami watched in amusement as their chosen scrambled to get ready, keeping an eye out to ensure they didn’t forget anything _too_ important. 

In the end, they were only ten minutes late and finally had the time out with friends they had been craving for so long.


	4. Animan

“Stay put and you’ll be safe!”

Ladybug swung off to fight the akuma of the day and just like that, and Alya was locked in an animal enclosure with Nino. He at least had the good graces to look embarrassed about it.

Incredibly awkwardly, he finger gunned at her and said, “Uh, h-hey, what’s up?”

Groaning, she slapped a hand to her forehead. “Seriously, Nino?”

“Sorry. Just trying to lighten the mood, dude.”

“I should be out there, recording the latest attack for the Ladyblog!” She put her back against the walls of the enclosure and slide to the ground. 

“Maybe she wanted you _not_ to do that? And that’s why she put you in here?”

“No way! She wouldn’t do that to her number one fan.” She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at him. “Maybe it’s because she knows about your _crush_.”

“Woah woah, what, uh, what crush? I don’t have a crush, no way dude.”

“Nino! I was listening when you were talking to Marinette!”

“Oh.” His eyes widened. “Oh! Wait, no I can explain.”

“Yeah? Go ahead and try, cappy.”

“I don’t have a crush on you, I... I have a crush on Marinette.”

Alya winced. “That’s… not going to end well for you, lover boy.”

“Huh?”

“Marinette is already head over heels for someone else.”

Nino sat down in front of her, pulling his hat down to cover his eyes. “Oh… that’s… okay.”

“I’m sorry, Nino.” She reached out a hand to touch his shoulder, which caused him to look up. Her heart broke when she saw his watery eyes.

“Who is it?”

“I really shouldn’t…” It was girl code and all. You don’t go spilling your girlfriend’s secrets. One more look at Nino’s broken expression and her resistance gave way. Despite what Marinette thought, it was pretty obvious to most people anyway. Taking a deep breath, she said, “She has a crush on Adrien.” She pointed a finger at him angrily. “You can’t tell Marinette I told you that.”

He leaned back, looking up at the ceiling. Eventually he began to laugh. “I told him that I’d be better off being like him. I’m not surprised, dude. My bro is pretty cool - he even showed up to help me like you did with Marinette. I... I can’t really compare to that.”

Frowning, Alya shifted to be sitting beside him. “Hey, you’re plenty cool yourself, Mr. DJ.”

“Really?”

“Of course! You’re super chill, you’ve got great taste in music. Besides,” she winked at him, “you aren’t half bad looking yourself.”

Faintly blushing, he replied, “Th-thanks, Alya.” A few heartbeats passed between them. “You really like my music?”

“Definitely.”

A smile started spreading on Nino’s face while Alya checked her phone. “Shoot. Looks like we’re going to be stuck here for a while longer. Any ideas on how to pass the time?”

“Uh… well… I have a comic book I picked up yesterday. Haven’t gotten a chance to read it yet.”

“Hm… that depends on the comic. What do you got for me?” 

Reaching into his bag, he pulled out the most recent Majestia story. When she looked up, he was looking bashful. “I know it can be corny sometimes, but I like the stories where the hero wins in the end.” He cleared his throat and took on a righteous tone. “‘All that is necessary for the triumph of evil-’”

“‘Is that good people do nothing.’ Huh. I didn’t think there was another Majestia fan in the class. Hey, what did you think about...”

The next half an hour was spent in deep discussion on their shared favorite comic book series, where the conversation branched off into other topics. Slowly, Alya was coming to the realization that they shared much more than just a taste in stories and music. Both of them enjoyed horror and romantic comedies - although Nino implored Alya not to tell anyone about the latter. Both of them had experience playing instruments. Walks through the park and biking were added to their list of shared activities and before she knew it, they were making plans for going to do these things _together_. 

When the Ladybug cure came along and deposited them back at the bench they’d been at during the start of this mess, Alya took him by the hand.

“Hey. I know a really good bakery nearby if you want to get something to eat.”

He smiled warmly at her. “I’d love to.”


	5. Balcony

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rena rouge + Nino, in a world where Nino doesn't have the Turtle miraculous

Rena Rouge landed on the balcony of their rented home, thankful for the canopy providing shelter from the storm. The perch was occupied by a few potted plants and a pair of lounge chairs, one of which had a blanket draped on it. To anyone else, she was just another shadow in the darkness of the midnight rainstorm. Taking care to move as silently as possible, she crept toward the glass door to peer inside. Hopefully, Nino was still asleep and hadn’t noticed her absence. Pressing her face to the glass to cut down on the glare from the city lights, she scanned the bed. Her eyes widened when she realized that it was empty.

“Someone missing, babe?”

Her heart leapt out of her chest and she spun around to face Nino, who had been laying under the blanket on the lounge chair. His face was carefully neutral, but he was never very good about hiding his emotions. She saw the worry tugging faintly at his lips, and the disappointment in his eyes. 

“I know what this might look like…”

“You mean how it looks like you’ve been throwing yourself in danger again? How you’ve completely ignored everything I said earlier?”

“What am I supposed to do? Nothing?”

“Yes!” Alya recoiled from the intensity in his voice as he pinched his nose, frustrated with himself. “I’m sorry I yelled. But it hurts to know you’re out there, putting yourself in danger like this…”

She put a hand on his cheek. “Nino, you know I have to do this. Ladybug and Chat Noir need me.”

“Do they?” He looked her in the eye and she saw the desperation there. “They were doing just fine alone for ages.”

“Hawkmoth is getting more and more desperate. Two miraculous users just isn’t enough anymore. They need help.”

“But does it have to be you?”

“Yes. I was chosen. And if I turned it down, someone less prepared would be chosen. I can’t turn my back on them now.”

He shook his head, tears falling as he wrapped her in a desperate hug. “I’m so scared that one day you won’t come home.”

Fighting back tears of her own, she returned the hug while dropping the transformation. 

“I know, Nino. I’m scared too, but this is what I need to do.”

Unnoticed down below, a man in a raincoat watched the two embrace from under his black umbrella. He turned around and set off with a specific destination in mind.


	6. Surprise!

It hadn’t been a good day. 

Normally, Nino loved his job at the recording studio. He got to met loads of people, from rising stars to established legends, and all other prospective hopefuls yearning to make their mark in the world. Even better, it gave him something to bring to the table to match everyone else’s stories when the old gang got the chance to have a double date to catch up. Not to mention he got to work with music for a living, which had always been a dream of his. 

All this means is that it took a remarkably bad day to bring him down. The universe seemed to take this as a challenge and did its level best to pile the worst set of circumstances on him. 

The day began not too out of the ordinary. Yes, he was late to work, but no one batted an eye at that since it took an _akuma_ to make that happen. Once there, the equipment was on the fritz, prompting him to skip breakfast and eventually even lunch just to get it working in time for a big name talent. Who then showed up two hours late. That itself isn’t that uncommon. Yeah, they’ll throw a hissy fit if the studio isn’t ready for them, but it was pretty par for the course for musicians who had just made it big to feel they were entitled to show up whenever they wanted to. 

This musician, however, was very drunk. And seemed to be completely oblivious of this fact, leading to a few frustrated hours of attempted recordings where all the many imperfections in the takes would be chalked up to Nino and his equipment rather than the barely-on-his-feet strumming and warbling of the rock star. 

Nino finally returned home, the hot spike of frustration drove deep enough to pierce his chill exterior. He wanted nothing more than to vent to his beloved wife about everything, but he knew she would be at Marinette’s apartment for the night. Those two never got the opportunity to spend a day together, so when Alya announced out of the blue that she would be out on the town with Marinette, he didn’t bat an eye. Unwilling to make anything complicated, he made some instant noodles and settled into the couch to watch TV until he was tired. 

Just as he was about to dig in, he got a call. To his great surprise, it was Alya.

“Hey, babe. Something up?”

“Can you come over to Marinette’s? There is something I need to tell you.” There was a tremor of excitement to her voice that caught his attention. 

Eyeing his first real meal of the day, he asked, “Can it wait? Or better yet, can you tell me over the phone?”

“No. I need to tell you in person as soon as possible.” When he didn’t respond immediately, she added, “Please?”

She took his groaning as conceding and told him that she’d see him soon.

Half an hour later, Nino was stepping into Marinette’s apartment. The lights were off - which made him instantly suspicious - so he flicked the nearby lightswitch.

The sudden light revealed a big banner reading ‘Congratulations!’ hanging from the ceiling. It was clearly a Dupain-Cheng original, with all the love and care that she always put into her designs, even if it did seem a little rushed. Jumping out from behind the furniture was Alya, Marinette, and even Adrien. 

“Surprise!”

Nino was taken aback. It wasn’t his birthday and he was ninety percent certain it wasn’t anyone's anniversary. They were pretty far from any holidays too, but those wouldn’t have prompted a surprise party. 

“Uh, thanks? What’s the occasion, dudes?”

Alya cupped Nino’s face in her hands, crying freely. “Marinette took me to the doctor’s office today to be sure. I’m pregnant.”

The frustration he had been carrying throughout the day fell off of him like a heavy backpack. He pulled her into a hug, matching his lips to hers in a deep kiss. At some point, he vaguely registered their friends stepping out of the room - something was said about giving them some space. 

Out of breath, he laid his forehead on hers. “I’m going to be a daddy.”

Nodding, she replied, “You are.”

“You’re going to be a mommy!” He spun her around in place, the excitement starting to bubble up inside him.

She laughed as she looked up into his eyes. “I am!”

“We’re going to be the best damn parents.”

“You better believe it, babe.” They leaned in for another kiss. 

It was a good day.


	7. Stay With You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A retelling of the moment in Zombisou where Nino sacrifices himself so Alya won't be alone.

“Nino?” Ladybug reached out her hand for him, but instead of taking it like he was sure she was expecting, he tipped his hat to her as the door closed. “Nino!”

The elevator lurched into motion, carrying away the three survivors and leaving him alone with Alya. He knew that there would be no escape and he knew that his girlfriend would be the one to turn him. 

In all his years of watching horror movies, he had often wondered how well he’d do in the zombie apocalypse. At least he can say that he was one of the last to succumb to plague, beaten out only by Paris’ resident superheroes (and Chloe, but she was being babysat by them, so it really didn’t count).

Those thoughts fell by the wayside as he watched Alya struggle against the plague. She was fierce and strong willed, to be sure, but even she wouldn’t be able to stand up against this. Not even superheroes were beyond akuma control. He felt a strange serenity as he watched her lose control, knowing that he had no chance against her once that happened. 

“This isn’t the first time we’ve been in trouble together.”

And it was true. He’d often followed her into the midst of an akuma attack, always when she’d try to get the scoop on the latest heroics of her favorite superheroes. It wasn’t something he enjoyed - he might enjoy horror movies, but he hated the real deal with a passion. But if there was anything that outweighed his fear of akumas...

“Kissou~”

...it was his love for her.


	8. Team

“So, uh, think they’ll stop to let us past, babe?”

Chat Noir swatted aside a couple of the mind controlled citizens, doing his best to keep them at bay without causing them undue harm. Just as he had those two stunned, six more swarmed him and he fell back out of their line of sight.

“No, something tells me they won’t.” Alya began scanning the dead end alley they were hiding in. It and the dumpster they were crouched behind were good cover for the time being, but one way in also meant only one way out. Once the horde was no longer occupied with fighting the superheroes, they would be caught pretty quickly and added to their ranks. They needed to find a way out, now.

Although Alya didn’t have Ladybug’s eye for complicated plans, she _did_ have desperation and a reporter’s eye for details. In the circumstances, it would have to do. 

“Hey, Nino, can you give me a lift? If we stand on the dumpster, I could reach that fire escape and drop the ladder for you.” 

He frowned worriedly as he looked out at the streets. “Totally, but we gotta move fast if we want to not get spotted.” 

They scrambled up onto the dumpster, Nino bracing himself against the wall as Alya stepped onto his hands for some extra lift. Soon after clambering onto the escape, she dropped the ladder. It screeched to a halt at about head height for Nino. Alya’s heart skipped a beat as she noticed some victims moving down the alley towards them, drawn by the noise. 

In a panic, she yelled, “Nino, climb!” 

The command galvanized him and he jumped, catching the second to last rung as he tried to climb the ladder with just his arms. By the time they’d grabbed onto his legs, Alya was laying on her stomach, pulling at him to do her best to help. In a panic, Nino thrashed his legs and caught one of them in the face. With the lessened weight he was able to pull himself onto the escape and together they pulled the ladder back up.

Despite wanting nothing more than to hug him, she knew they needed to get moving in case they caught the attention of the akuma victim herself. Even with the little she’d managed to overhear, Alya had no idea what her motivations were, only that she could mind control almost anyone hit by her energy rays. 

As they climbed the stairs, Nino asked, “So, you getting the scoop you were hoping you would?”

“Soon _I’ll_ be the one laughing, Lahiffe. I’ll have the perfect vantage point from the top of this building.”

Thankfully, the building wasn’t that tall and they reached the top without getting too winded. She noticed that Nino was favoring one of his legs, but it didn’t seem broken or bleeding so they’d just have to wait it out until the Ladybug cure could fix it.

Unfortunately, the building wasn’t that tall and was surrounded by taller buildings.

“So much for your perfect vantage point, babe. Maybe you can get some footage of the horde?” He pointed out the people flooding the streets, shambling east. “It’d give folks some warning, at least.”

She huffed, but couldn’t refute his reasoning and spent a few minutes tracking the horde until it thinned out. Looking around again, she spotted some scaffolding that might get them within reach of the next roof. 

Groaning once he realized what she was staring at, Nino asked, “Can’t we just chill here until the battle is over, dude?”

“Who knows how long that will be? Besides you said it - we can follow the horde to help keep people safe. Plus, maybe it’ll give Ladybug and Chat Noir an edge too! We might find the akuma villain before them.”

“That’s what I’m worried about.” He sighed. “Okay, lead the way.” 

His limp had gotten worse and Alya put a hand on his chest to stop him. “You know, you don’t have to go with me.”

“I’m not leaving you alone, babe. And you’re totally right - we can help beat this bad dude.”

“...Are you sure? I can’t promise this will be easy.”

“You’re going and that’s all that matters to me.” He looked at her with such tenderness that it knocked the wind out of her. Not for the first time, she was glad to have him by her side. “We’re a team after all, right?”

Smiling, Alya nodded and they went chasing after danger.


	9. Gorgeous

Knocking at the door, he gripped the strap of his duffel bag. It was the first time he’d spend the night at Alya’s. Heck, it was his first sleepover - turns out being the loner in the back of the classroom hadn’t been very helpful in making friends these last few years. He had no idea what to expect when the door opened, but two waist-high kids running up and grabbing his legs hadn’t been high on his list. 

“Sup, little dudes! They didn’t leave you alone, did they?”

Instead of answering they giggled as Alya poked her head around the corner. “Hey, babe. I’m just making some popcorn for the movie. Make yourself as home.” Noticing her sisters still clinging onto him, she added, “Time to let go little sapotis. That is, if you still want to watch the first movie or two with us.” 

He took a few steps into the apartment, unburdened by children latched onto him. Despite having been here several times before, he still felt awkward. After a few lingering moments of uncertainty, he dropped his bag next to the couch in front of the TV and joined Alya in the back. 

Leaning his arms against the island table, he asked, “What’s the plan for tonight?”

“Probably same thing as most sleepovers. Movies, talking, maybe some games. The usual, I guess.” 

“Oh, cool, cool.”

As she poured the popcorn into a big bowl, she looked at him out of the corner of her eye. “You okay there, babe? You look stressed out.”

“I’ve never really… spent the night at someone’s house before.”

“Seriously? Well, we’d better do the deluxe sleepover, then.” There was a mischievous twinkle in her eye as she set the bowl on the table and ducked into a hallway that he knew led to the bathroom. Before he could wonder too much about it, she returned with an unassuming black bag that sounded as if it were filled with many small things.

He eyed the bag dubiously. “What is that?”

“Make-up bag,” she replied innocently.

“Oh.” His eyes widened. “Oh! I don’t really-”

“C’mon, Nino, it’ll be fun! I can make you at least _twice_ as handsome as you are now, and you can try your hand at makeup!”

“I don’t know…”

“It’s not like you’d be the only boy in our group that has worn makeup. Your best bud Adrien does all the time, both at work and in the day to day!”

“I…” She looked at him with wide eyes and pouting lips. “Okay, okay, let’s do this.”

“I’ll go first, okay? Let’s try some…” She rooted around in the bag. “...Eyeliner.” 

As what looked for all the world like a dull black pencil descended upon his eyeball, Nino ducked away and asked, “Can’t we do something less likely to blind me?”

Alya rolled her eyes. “I do eyeliner every day, Nino. If I haven’t poked my eyes out yet then you’ll be fine.” She pointed it menacingly at him. “Unless you tempt me, cappy.”

“I think I’ll pass.”

“Fine, fine. But you better stay still for the rest of it!”

Much to the surprise of both of them, he managed to stay still and ended up with a (mostly) complete makeup look. Alya took a few pictures of her handiwork, but refused to give him a mirror until both of them had their new looks on. 

“Now, I want you to know that while I trust you with a lot of things, tweezers, hard applicators and eyeliner are not among them.”

“Oh but _I_ was the baby for not wanting you to jab a pencil at my eye.”

“Babe, how many hours do you have in practice with this stuff? None? Right, so I’m justified in not wanting your first attempt to be on me.”

“Yeah yeah, just give me something to start working with.”

After a nerve-wracking ten minutes, Nino was finished. Well, as finished as he could be with the few things Alya entrusted him with - lipstick, complexion and the like. While he may consider himself an artist, there was a major difference between music and film making versus physical art - especially on the canvas of a person’s face. 

“I’ve got my mirror, and here’s yours,” she said, passing him a hand mirror. “On the count of three we’ll turn them around and get our first look at our new faces for the evening. One… two… three!”

When he first got a good look at himself in the mirror, he didn’t recognize himself. In a dozen small ways he has been seemingly morphed into someone else. Who knew that something as normal as his face could look so unfamiliar?

Alya, meanwhile, was cackling. “You know, it’s not bad for a first try. I can definitely tell you restrained yourself a lot. I can see myself wearing it if I were going to the general store.”

“Now that we’re all dolled up, you ready to watch some movies babe?” Nino leaned back into the couch, finally feeling himself relax. Alya scooted close and leaned against against him.


	10. Heroes

A fireball flew through the sky, painting the streets in yellows and oranges as it hurtled towards them. Alya - or more appropriately at the moment, Rena Rouge - didn’t watch it’s trajectory as she ran down the avenue. The fighting was thickest in this part of the city, and it sent a shiver through her to realize that the akuma wasn’t even targeting them specifically. This fireball was just a stray shot from the main battle, where the rest of the team was doing their best to fend off the most powerful akuma yet. 

As her entire vision became shades of red and orange, someone grabbed her wrist and she was pulled back against a slick scaly armor. A green shield was held in front of her and she heard Carapace’s voice next to her ear. “Shellter!” 

The flames poured over the invincible shield, unable to find entrance in the few moments it took for it to burn itself out over the area. Her mouth was a tight line as she watched the pavement become molten beyond the glowing green force field. Her eyes flicked to an alleyway and she pulled Carapace after her as the beeping began. While they still had a few minutes, he wouldn’t be able to use the shield again until Wayzz recharged. She definitely didn’t want to go into battle without that in their back pocket - it had already saved their lives several times in the last hour. 

“Shell off.” In a flash of green, Nino stood before her, already rustling around in his backpack to find food for the kwami hovering expectantly near his shoulder. He found a bag of almonds and passed them to Wayzz. “Here you go, little dude. You’ve earned it.”

Peering around the corner, Alya added, “Hell yeah he did.” Her hands clenched and unclenched on her flute absently. “I just wish it hadn’t been necessary.”

She heard Nino walk up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder. “It sucks, but we can’t worry about that anymore, babe. People out there need us.”

“I know, I know, but we should be with Ladybug and the others! What if they need us?”

“They _might_ need us, but the people down here? Caught in the crossfire? They _definitely_ need us.” Alya sighed and Nino put a hand on her cheek. “Babe, I know you’re worried about our best buds, but the quicker we can get everyone out of this arrondissement, the faster we can give this baddie the full beatdown he deserves. Alright?”

He leaned his forehead against hers and she took deep breaths. With the physical contact as an anchor, she pushed aside the worry for her friends and focused on the moment ahead of them. Eyes narrowing in determination, she looked up at his eyes and nodded. “Let’s do this. You just about ready?”

Wayzz rejoined them, already looking more energetic. “I am prepared whenever you are, Master.”

“Awesome! Let’s get back into then, little dude. Shell on!”

Just like that, they were back on the streets, searching for anyone that needed saving. The mayor had finally been helpful for once and issued the evacuation of this section of the city before fleeing in his private helicopter. But that didn’t mean that everyone had a chance to escape. She remembered back to the beginning of the fight, where she hid crowds from the akuma’s wrath using her illusions. It had been terrifying - the only thing between hundreds of people and death had been an illusion as substantial as a cloud. Yet somehow, it worked and everyone got out alive. Honestly, the only thing that kept her from snapping during those tense moments was knowing that Nino was right behind her, a stable rock in this chaotic mess. 

Down the street, a group of five people was running towards her. Hot on their heels were coal black bats wreathed in blue fire. Even as she dashed towards them, she groaned at the inadvertent pun she’d made in the confines of her own mind. Too much time on patrol with Chat Noir was taking its toll on her. 

The fight was brief - the bats were the least of the creatures that the akuma shed off of it, but even they still posed a threat to the average civilian. After guiding this latest group out to safety, they made a quick patrol through the arrondissement - even those five had been the only ones they’d found in the last hour.

With the best partner she could ever ask for by her side, she raced to join Ladybug and the others.


	11. Cold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A late night stake out to get fresh news for the Ladyblog.

Rubbing his hands together for warmth, Nino peered through his windshield to keep an eye on the night time Parisian skyline. He didn’t expect to see anything - the past few nights had been duds and they didn’t know for sure if Ladybug and Chat Noir would stop here of all places. For all they knew, their source was just full of crap and there was some anonymous prankster laughing it up in front of a cozy fireplace, thinking about the reporter he’d sent on a wild goose chase. It’d probably be even funnier to him if he’d found out he’d also snagged the reporter’s boyfriend, Nino reflected glumly. 

He was startled out of his brooding by a knock on the passenger side window. His mood immediately brightened when he saw Alya smiling widely back at him, a twinkle of mirth in her eyes. He forgave her for laughing at scaring him when she passed him a hot cup of coffee. 

While he wrapped his hands around the cup, she got settled in the passenger seat. “See anything while I was gone?”

“Nah, babe. I’m really getting worried some punk is playing a joke on us.”

Alya shook her head. “I don’t know who the source is, but I’ve gotten tips from them before and they sign all their messages the same way. Whoever it is, they’re the real deal.”

“Maybe it is _the_ real deal and Ladybug herself is giving you tips.” Nino took a hesitant sip of his coffee.

“No way! Why would Ladybug tell me where she and Chat Noir make out?”

“Maybe she’s into that sort of thing.” Alya scoffed, but Nino leaned back and continued. “Maybe this is how she wants to announce their relationship to Paris. Who knows?”

“Sounds like a conspiracy to me.” She looked out the window, craning her neck to keep an eye on the rooftops. “But hey, even if we don’t get anything, I can’t really complain. It’s been nice to spend some time with you.”

He smiled and kissed the hand he was holding. “Same. I’ve been missing you these last couple of months. I’m glad to get some quality time, even if it is dark and cold.”

“You know…” She said with a shiver, turning back to him while biting her lips, “It _is_ pretty cold out here.”

“Mhm…?”

“I’m feeling pretty cold. Think you can help me out there?”

“Well, we can’t start the car, but… I have a blanket in the back if that’s alright.”

“That sounds amazing.”

\---------------------

Ten minutes later and the two of them were entwined with each other, attached at the mouth and feeling very, very warm despite the chill just outside the confines of their car. 

Across the street, in a hotel room, Marinette watched for a moment longer before a strong set of arms wrapped around her waist and Adrien’s voice sounded mere centimeters from her ear.

“Spot on as usual, my lady. They’ve been pretty mopey with their schedules out of sync like this.”

After sharing a kiss with her boyfriend, she replied, “Well, they put so much work into helping us out, this only seems fair.” 

“Are we going to give them something to publish?”

“I think they’re going to be busy for a while longer. We can head out in ten minutes or so.” She held her hands out as if presenting the story. “‘Parisian sweethearts passionately kiss on the rooftops of Paris’.” She winked at Adrien. “I’m sure that’ll give her blog a boost.”

As he leaned in for another kiss, he said, “You make the best plans.”


	12. Babysitting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A continuation of Chapter 9, Alya runs out for snacks and leaves Nino in charge.

“Shoot.” Nino looked back at Alya, who was in the kitchen area with her hands on her hips. She met his eyes as she continued. “We’re out of drinks. And snacks, for that matter.”

“Seriously? I brought plenty. Where’d it all-” A pair of giggling voices drew his attention to the other end of the couch he was sitting on. “Oh. Well, do we really need more?”

“Of course! These little monsters,” she eyed her baby sisters who laughed even harder, “ate almost all of it and I barely got any.” She grabbed her jacket as she walked towards the door. In a forcefully cheery voice she added, “Keep an eye on things while I’m gone! Nino’s in charge.”

“Wait!” He called out, but she was already gone. Slowly, he turned back to his new charges. While he had dealt with the kids before, he had never been alone with them. He’d never had to babysit kids before; he was the youngest in his family, after all. “Uh… sup, dudes?”

Immediately they rushed forward, closing the distance between them as they opened up a barrage of questions.

“What’s your favorite color?” Ella said from just behind him, clambering over the couch.

“Uh… Probably-”

“Where’d you get that hat?” Etta tried to take said hat from him, and he responded as he pressed it back down onto his head.

“Oh! At-”

“Alya says you write music. Is that true?”

“Sometimes I-”

“Do you like Alya? Like, _like_ like Alya?” Etta asked staring up at him with her eyes wide.

He held out his arms in an x shape in front of him. “Slow down little dudes!” To his surprise they actually listened, stopping to watch him carefully. “Okay, favorite color is green. I won the hat in a competition. I make playlists and sometimes I try to write some killer songs. And… yeah, I do.”

“Nino likes Alya! Nino likes Alya!” They ran around chanting simultaneously. 

“Oh bummer dudes, if you’re going to be loud I guess we can’t watch these shows…” He took up the remote started to turn off the animated kids’ show.

“No wait! We can be quiet.” They shushed each other, giggling afterwards. “Verrrry quiet.” 

With the situation tenuously under control, Nino turned on the cartoon. He didn’t know how she did it, but Alya was amazing with kids. _Well, she’s awesome in general, but she is **especially** awesome with kids._ He hoped she came home soon, but not because he wasn’t confident with handling the twins. Even in the short time she’d been gone, he’d started to miss her.

After an episode or two, the twins began getting tired and were barely able to keep their eyes open. 

“Alright little dudes, time for both of you to go to sleep.” They mumbled that they weren’t sleepy yet and wanted to stay up to wait for Alya, but the moment he put them in their beds they were out cold. He flicked the light switch off and closed the door behind him, only to hear the front door open.

Alya stepped into the apartment and looked at him curiously. He pointed a thumb over his shoulder at the room he just left and she smiled. They shared a kiss as they sat down on the couch together.

“Well well, turns out my cappy has what it takes to be a babysitter. Who knew?” She set down the snacks on the table in front of the television and put in a horror flick. “Ready for big kid hour, babe?”

With just a pleased smile for an answer, he pulled her onto his lap and wrapped them in a blanket as the movie began.


	13. Share

Nino was led on an ambling walk through the early autumn park. The date they had just finished had, for once, been his idea. Even so, he was more than happy for Alya to hold onto his arm and decide where their wondering would take them, if anywhere. While her attention was on the path ahead of them, he looked down at Alya and smiled warmly at the way the moonlight softly illuminated her hair and reflected in her eyes.

“Hey, do you remember when we were here last time?”

She lifted an eyebrow and smirked. “You mean when you got swept up in that live band? We were dancing for what felt like hours.”

“Nah, it only felt like that when we were done and our feet were killing us. But when we were dancing?” He nudged her with his elbow. “I couldn’t tell you if we were dancing for minutes or hours.”

“Yeah… you have that kind of effect on me too.” She leaned her head against his shoulder and even though he couldn’t see it, he could hear the smile in her voice.

Feeling warmer than before, he guided them towards Alya’s favorite set of statues in the park. Eventually, he heard her begin to hum a tune he was all too familiar with. It was the one she used when she was deep in thought, usually when she was doing research for her next article. Ever since they graduated, she’d been making a name for herself in the journalism industry. 

Now she turned that powerful mind toward the date they’d just been on. “We’ve gone to a lot of places today.”

“You think so?” Nino replied as innocently as he could manage. “I took you to the zoo…”

“Mhm. Which is were we first started dating.”

“Then we were feeling hungry so we went to a restaurant…”

“Which we just so happened to have a reservation for and was were we first said ‘I love you’ to each other.”

“Really? Weird.” He kept up the innocent facade but it was obvious she didn’t believe it any longer. Still, that was no reason to make things easier on her. “Well, what about the museum?”

“We got stuck there for an entire afternoon because of an akuma. You, uh…” The intrepid reporter blushed, “...helped passed the time pretty well.”

He laughed at her sudden bout of shyness. “You did pretty good yourself, if I remember.”

She let go of him and he immediately missed her warmth. She put her arms on her hips and narrowed her eyes at him, but there was a glint of amusement and curiosity in her eyes. “Okay, Lahiffe. What’s the deal with all this? We doing our best hits album today?”

“I just wanted to show you all the good moments we’ve shared, you know?”

“Babe, that’s sweet, but why? You were pretty insistent about planning this little outing.”

“Well, let’s just say I want to hedge my odds a little.” 

She laughed and started to walk away. He watched her for a moment, turning over a small black box that was in his pocket. There was a question he needed to ask her tonight.


	14. Snowball Fight

“Look out!” 

Nino tackled her to the ground, bringing her behind the protection of their snow wall. Where her head had just been four snowballs whizzed past in rapid succession. From across the distance she heard her older sister growl her displeasure. 

“Are you alright, babe?” There was concern in Nino’s voice and while Alya appreciated it, there was a battle to win. 

“Yes, but we won’t be if we let Nora keep us down like this.”

Peering over the snow wall, the corners of Nino’s lips perked up. “I don’t think we need to worry too much about that.”

Clambering to her knees to follow his gaze, she saw the scene playing out before her - Nora swarmed by the twins who were very good at evading whatever she tossed in their direction. At the start of this match, the twins had been split up to round out the two teams. The _hope_ had been that having an extra person on Alya’s team would help balance out Nora’s perceived better athleticism. Alya smirked - that had been Nora’s reasoning and of course she couldn’t know that she was facing down two of the heroes of Paris. As it turns out, heroism is an excellent work out routine. 

The plan fell apart in practice. The twins naturally gravitate towards each other to the point where they became a team of their own. Since they planned this match with two teams in mind, that meant they were baseless raiders attacking when one team or the other was distracted before giggling and running off once they got some attention. It was pure and absolute anarchy.

Just as Alya wanted. 

There had been no doubt in her mind that the twins would go rogue. But the twins can’t win on their own, so they were out of the running. Nora was still outnumbered. The most important advantage wasn’t that she had an extra teammate, no - it was _who_ that teammate was that gave her the winning edge. Alya trusted Nino with her life, which was no idle statement given the fight against akumas. Just as she knew she could trust Nino, she did her best to keep Nino safe and covered. 

While she prepared the ammunition for the final push, she grinned. Nora didn’t know what was coming for her.

\-----------------------------

Half an hour later, they were back inside and wearing fresh clothes, their previous outfits being well and truly drenched. The storming of Fort Nora had been more difficult than expected and they ended up losing the battle. While Alya insisted out loud that it was just dumb luck, she knew that maybe a couple months of full time superheroing _might_ not equate perfectly to years of rigorous training. 

Still… sitting next to Nino, wrapped in a blanket and clutching mugs of hot chocolate, she couldn’t feel disappointed. Win or lose, they were a perfect team.


	15. Newly Weds

One problem that emerged when the two of them went on their honeymoon was: Where could they go from here? Paris is the City of Love, after all - where could they possibly take their vacation? The solution they came up with was… not to leave. A hotel on the other side of the city would keep them far enough away from family and friends for some quality alone time. The plan wasn’t foolproof, but at least they’d have some time to relax.

He covered his eyes to block out the early morning sun, eventually turning over to bury his face into his new wife’s hair which stirred her from sleep. 

“Nino?” She asked groggily. “What time is it?”

“Way too early to get up, babe,” He gently kissed the back of her neck. “Go back to sleep.”

She seemed about to take his advice when her phone began buzzing. Before he could do anything, her hand shot out from under the blankets and picked it up. She rolled over onto her back as her face hardened into a mask of determination. When he began to sit up her attention was drawn back to him and she frowned at him as she bit her lip, conflicted.

“What’s it say?”

“It’s… nothing.” She sat down the cellphone on the bedside table. “Let’s go back to sleep, alright? We have a honeymoon to enjoy.”

“Babe. Was that an alert?” He didn’t need to clarify what the alert was about - with Alya, the most common and important one was the app about akuma attacks. Despite the passage of years, Alya never lost her fire for reporting on Paris’s own superheroes and their fight against Hawkmoth. Even with her work in professional journalism, she maintained the Ladyblog and faithfully updated it.

“Yeah, but it’s fine, babe, really. We should relax - enjoy this time together!”

“We should.” He stood up to get dressed. 

“Nino?”

“Doesn’t really matter _what_ we’re doing, as long as we’re together, right?” He turned back to smile at her. There was shock on her face - usually he was trying to talk her out of these things, not convince her to go - but then she smiled back, still light by the early morning sun and he knew he was making the right choice.


	16. Anything For You

With a great yawn, Alya crawled into the passenger seat of Nino’s car and got ready for the long journey to begin. It was going to be nearly four hours to get into Namur from Paris and they needed to be there by noon at the latest if they wanted to get into their hotel rooms in a reasonable amount of time. So giving themselves a couple hours of wiggle room had made a lot of sense yesterday, when they were packing bags and laying out their itinerary. But now? At six in the morning, after she had accidentally stayed up till one in the morning writing up an article?

Well, it didn’t seem like such an amazing plan anymore, suffice it to say. 

There wasn’t much room to be upset - Alya couldn’t regret staying up that late. All that work needed to get done if she was going to be taking a long weekend off for this trip. Sleep had taken a backseat to making sure all her deadlines would still be met. Sure, she still needed to do some editing, but the bulk of the work had been finished.

Maybe she could have been irritated at getting up this early, but as covered it was very prudent of them to leave early. Plus, she reflected with a frown as Nino closed the car trunk and started the car, it had been her idea in the first place. Can’t blame anyone but herself there. 

“You gonna take a nap, babe?” Nino softly asked her. She mustered all the will she could to open her heavy eyelids to look over at him. 

“That’d kinda ruin the point of me coming, cappy.” She smiled as he rolled his eyes at the nickname. “I can sleep at the hotel room. You’ll need to meet with the film festival people anyway, right? And I can’t really tag along with that.”

He continued in a soft voice, “You didn’t _need_ to tag along at all, babe.” There was a pause before he quickly added, as if sensing her glaring at him, “Not that I don’t appreciate it! But I know you’re usually super busy and you’ll just be wasting time up in Namur anyway.”

“My sweet, hopeless boy, time spent with you is not time wasted. Besides, you need someone there to cheer you on and our friends are even busier than we are.” Nino still looked conflicted as he kept his eyes on the road. Alya sighed and sat up in her seat. “Listen. I am choosing to go with you because I love and support you. Not because of any guilt trip you seem to think you foisted on me, okay?

Reluctantly, he nodded.

“Good. Now, any ideas for restaurants or sight seeing while we are up there?”

As the conversation drifted to planning for the weekends, she decided that while the past few days of working late had been rough, she would do it all again in a heartbeat. She’d do anything for her clueless boyfriend, just like she knew he’d do anything for her.


	17. Dance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A retelling of Despair Bear, from Alya+Nino's perspective

“Go over and ask him, girl!” She nudged her friend as they stared at Adrien’s back for what felt like the hundredth time in their friendship.

“Uh? What? Adrien?! No! You’re crazy I-” Rolling her eyes, Alya all but threw her at the sunshine prince. As she figured, Adrien took Marinette colliding into him in stride and, bless his heart, even took the initiative in getting her on the dance floor.

As she watched this unfold, her boyfriend walked up beside her and wrapped an arm around her waist. “How’s it going this time, babe?”

“There is no way he doesn’t feel something for her. Mr. Just A Friend was pretty quick to ask her to dance, and awfully keen on touching her hands.” She turned to look at Nino. “Good timing on the music switch, by the way. I’d compliment the choice of song, but we both know how good you are with that stuff anyway.” 

“No problemo. Kim actually sped things along _and_ he got Chloe out of the way for us. We should send that dude some cupcakes or something.”

“Maybe just an invitation to Marinette and Adrien’s wedding.” He chuckled at the suggestion and she pulled him out onto the dance floor. “C’mon, no way we can let this song go to waste.”

The two of them were not as slow dancers as the others, and glided easily between the other couples as they kept their friends within listening distance. When Adrien said something about Chloe, they both only barely avoided facepalming. 

“Dude, seriously? Focus!” Nino whispered, taking them closer.

Spinning out of Nino’s embrace, Alya moved the pair into a more intimate position before just as gracefully spinning out of the area, leaving her friends dumbfounded. They watched from a distance as confusion shifted into warm acceptance - surprisingly (or maybe unsurprisingly) coming from Mr. Just A Friend first. 

Alya sighed blissfully into Nino’s shoulder as she watched her best friend hold tightly onto her crush. There was nothing she wished more for her than to discover what she had found with Nino. Someone who could help complete her. Just like Nino was perfect for her, those two were made for each other. But she has done all she can... for now. All that was left to do was enjoy this time with her boyfriend.


	18. Partners in Crime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alya and Nino plotting to get their friends together, going on a date while they do so.

Nino stopped her on her way out of the classroom. She waved Marinette on after it looked like her best friend was about to hover nearby waiting for her. “Sorry, girl. I’ll head over to your place in a bit, okay?” Marinette glanced between the two of them before giving an awkward smile and nodding.

“We’re good for tomorrow still, right?” Nino asked after she had left.

Peering around the corner, Alya waited till her friend was out of sight before replying, “Yes, we still need to brainstorm for Operation: The Baker Girl and the Prince.”

“Plus the restaurant will be awesome.” He added with a grin.

“Well yeah. Plotting is better with a full stomach.”

“And the movie theater?” He asked as they began to walk out of the school.

“We’ll need that time to really think about what we’ve come up with,” she replied, with a faint smile undercutting her serious tone.

“No doubt about it, babe. Same time as usual?”

“Of course.” She gave him a kiss on the cheek as they parted ways.

\---------------------------------------

The next day, they met at a new restaurant at noon. They began to talk as they waited for their food to arrive.

“Any new developments for my second favorite ship?”

“Dude, I want those two together also, but you really shouldn’t _ship_ real people, you know?”

She fixed him with a Look. “Babe, have you seen the way they look at each other? Adrien just doesn’t know what an actual romantic relationship is like.”

“Hey, my bro-”

“-got his entire idea of romance from anime and manga.”

“So?”

She covered her face for a moment and took a deep breath. She loved this boy but sometimes he was _dense_. 

“Okay. He thinks that love is all romantic gestures and dramatic emotions, right?”

“Yeah… And we have that, don’t we?”

“Yes, but that’s not _all_ it is! Love is feeling secure with someone. It’s wanting to be near them all the time.” She held up a hand to stop Nino. “No way you can tell me he doesn't like her being in his space. Remember that dance? And that kiss for our movie?” 

Nino held up his hands in surrender. “Alright, alright, chill dude.” Their drinks arrived and as Alya took a sip, Nino said, “Plus, love helps you overlook people’s flaws. Like being far too nosy in people’s lives.” She glared at him, but he just smiled and stuck out his tongue. 

“Not relevant since my girl is _flawless_.”

“Are we sure that _you_ aren’t the one in love with Marinette?” He smiled at her indignant huff. “Anyway, there is all that stuttering around him she does. Have you seen how he looks at her when she stumbles her words around him? Totally adoring.”

“A lot like how you look at me when you think I’m not looking?” Now it was her turn to smile as he sputtered out a reply. “Relax, cappy. It’s cute.”

He groaned. “Cappy? Really? Do we have to stick with Nora’s nickname for me?”

The conversation drifted to other topics and they didn’t make any real progress on their plot. But then, they never did, always getting too distracted with each other nearby, too caught up in their own love to pull their friends together.

In the end, once they were each home for the evening, they couldn’t really regret how they’d spent their time together. One day, they knew that their friends would be happy like they were. Hopefully, it wouldn’t take being locked in an animal exhibit to bring them together.


	19. Love Letters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alya and Nino, despite living together, don't get to see each other much. They find a way around the lack of contact.

Alya woke up groaning, the light pouring in from her windows a solid reminder that she didn’t have any time left to be sleeping. She felt around on the other side of their bed just to confirm that Nino was still out. Letting out a wistful sigh, she rose to start the day.

It wasn’t like they didn’t expect troubles when they realized they would be working opposite shifts. But there wasn’t a whole lot of choice in the matter - most of the jobs available for Nino for DJing were at night and most of the jobs offered for her in journalism were during the day. Maybe, once they were more established they could afford to be pickier, but for now they just had to make do with the fleeting glimpses and stolen time at twilight.

As Alya dragged herself into the kitchen, she caught sight of one of the only things keeping them sane during their long absences from each other. It looked innocent enough - a neon green sticky note stuck on the cabinets. She perked up immediately as she snagged it, but refrained from reading it until she had poured herself a cup of coffee, made herself some toast, and taken a seat.

_“Love you, babe! You’re the best around! Kick their asses!”_

Smiling, she slipped the note into her purse, where it would join the dozen or more others crumpled near the bottom. Sometimes, when the workload got too much, she’d pull out a few and read them to give herself a boost. Knowing someone was in her corner made it all more bearable. She took a bright blue note off the stack and scribbled her own message for Nino while waiting for the coffee to kick in. 

\---------------------------------------

Nino shambled into the apartment he shared with Alya and eagerly, though tiredly, looked around for her. It was always his hope that if he got off work early, he’d catch her just as she was leaving. Sometimes it worked out that way. But today it didn’t. With a yawn he walked into the kitchen to grab a snack from the refrigerator, but paused when he saw a bright orange note tacked onto it at eye level. Hand slipping off the handle, he read the message while a smile slowly dawned on his face.

_“How was another night of being the best DJ in Paris? Missing you always!”_

As he settled down to write a poem for her to come back home to, he reflected on this chapter of their lives. It wasn’t easy for them, but there was no doubt in his mind that they’d make it through this.


	20. Christmas Tree

“It’s going to be great, babe!” Nino said, not for the first time today. He turned down the car radio, cutting off the weather report mid-sentence. “We used to come here all the time when I was a kid. They have the absolute best _trees_ here.”

Looking out the window, Alya could believe it. He had talked it up a lot on the trip up here, so her expectations had been set fairly high. The countryside covered in green, rolling acres of pine trees more than lived up to the hype. A light snowfall was already starting to dust the trees, creating a perfectly magical Christmas scene. Nino parked the car and Alya stepped out to breath in the sharp scent of the cold winter intermingled with the smell of the pines. 

“It’s amazing out here.” She spoke quietly, to avoid disturbing the still quiet of the forest surrounding her on all sides. 

“C’mon.” He looped his arm in hers and started off along one of the paths. “These trails can be super dangerous sometimes, but even after all this time I remember most of them.”

“How’d you learn them so well?”

“We’d make a weekend out of this - my uncle has a cabin in these woods and we’d spend time just hiking in the woods, keeping an eye out for the best tree to take back. At the end of the weekend, we’d get my uncle to cut it down for us.” He smiled, eyes as much in the past as they were on the route ahead of them. 

When it became clear he wasn’t going to continue, she prompted, “So… why did you stop?”

“He, uh… he passed away.” The nostalgia in his eyes guttered out. “After that, it never felt right to do that whole tradition anymore, you know? It just wasn’t the same without him.”

She leaned her head against his shoulder. “I’m sorry, babe. Were you two close?”

There was a long pause. “...Yeah. We didn’t see each other a whole lot, but he was a good guy. I still miss him, sometimes. I wish I’d gotten to know him better but…”

Reaching out a hand, she rubbed comforting circles on his back. It hadn’t escaped her notice that they’d stopped moving. Taking her eyes off Nino, she took in the woods around her. Gently tugging him forward, she got them back to moving again. 

“You know, Nino…” He glanced over at her. “We could start that tradition back-up again, if you want. Maybe as a way to honor him?”

A small smile crept onto his face. “I think I’d like that. Do you think-” A gust of wind cut him off. The snow was coming down hard now, and the smile fled from his face. “Shit! I think we’re about to be caught in a blizzard.” He started walking faster and took her by the hand. “This way.”

She fought down the rising tide of dread. “Where are we going? The car is in the other direction.”

“If we do get caught in a blizzard, I’d rather be in shelter than a car. Besides, we’re closer to the cabin than the car at this point.”

“What? Your uncle’s cabin? Is it still out here?”

“Totally! Sometimes our cousins use it, but they always leave a key nearby for us.”

They trudged through the piling snow before reaching a cozy looking cabin nestled into a clearing. Grabbing a key secreted under a windowsill, he waved her inside before grabbing a few logs from a little shed next to the cabin. With the curtains closed, she couldn’t make out much in the darkened room. The door closed behind her and Nino walked past her, stepping confidently despite the low light. Even so, she pulled out her phone to give him light. 

A few minutes and a few curses later, Nino had a fire going. He sat beside her on the couch, both leaning forward to take advantage of the heat.

“Sorry about this. This isn’t how I imagined the trip going.” He tugged at his cap nervously.

With a kiss on his cheek, she said, “I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather be stuck with, babe.”


	21. Aged Up

“I’ll miss you, sweetheart.” Her mother murmured into her ear as they hugged each other tightly. 

Alya giggled softy. “Mom, I’m moving out of the apartment, not the city. I’ll still be able to visit. You’ll hardly notice I’m gone.”

The apartment was a mess after they’d spent the last few hours walking all her things downstairs into the moving truck. There wasn’t a lot of stuff, but the flights of stairs had certainly made things more difficult. As if on cue, Nino and her father stepped through the door, huffing from the last trek up. Nino gestured vaguely behind him as hunched over to catch his breath.

“Last… done… ready?” He managed to wheezing out as she hugged her dad.

Over his shoulder, she gave him a thumbs up. “Yeah, babe. We’re good to go here.”

“We’ll come over and visit in a couple weeks, see how you’re doing,” Otis Cesaire said as they split apart. “Living on your own is a difficult transition.”

“I won’t be on my own, papa. I’ll at least have Nino, plus Marinette lives close by. And,” she added when he was about to interrupt, “if I’m having problems, I know I can call home.” 

After a few more goodbyes to her sisters - now high schoolers and the only other ‘kids’ in the apartment since Nora moved out a couple years ago - they climbed into the rental van and made their way to their new, shared home. Nino began humming a tune of his own making, and an apartment filled with music was already something she expected she’d be looking forward to each day. She didn’t know exactly what was in store for them, but with him by her side, she knew they’d make through.


	22. Mistletoe

“Bro, there’s no comparison between the two of them! How can you even say otherwise?” Adrien was grinning slyly and wildly gesticulating, or at least as much as he could with one arm wrapped around Marinette’s shoulders. To her credit, Marinette hadn’t fainted (yet), but the girl was clearly on cloud nine, smiling widely up at an oblivious Adrien.

“Nuh-uh, no way, dude!” Nino said as he crossed his arms in an x shape in front of him. _Speaking of oblivious…_ “The first one was _totally_ better, the sound track especially. Have you even-”

Alya leaned back as she listened to Nino and Adrien get into a playful argument. Christmas music coming in from the radio provided a pleasant background, enhanced by the heavenly smell of whatever the Dupain-Chengs were cooking in the bakery. She took a few experimental sniffs of the air. Vanilla. Sugar. Cinnamon. Who knows what else, but it all swirled together and almost seemed to combine with the music to create a scent exactly how Christmas should smell. From what Marinette had been telling her, the days leading up to Christmas were some of their busiest and from little Alya had seen as she slipped past the storefront, she could believe it. 

Slipping back into the conversation, Alya took a sip of her hot chocolate as she watched her two friends across from her. Looking at them, a stranger could be forgiven for thinking that wasn’t all they were. Adrien seemed to have unconsciously drawn Marinette closer to him until she was practically on his lap and despite her vibrant pink blush, she hadn’t said a word about it yet. There was an opportunity here, she knew. With a glance up, she noticed something and grinned. 

Taking Nino’s hand, she cut into the conversation. “Hey, babe. Can you help me grab some snacks from the kitchen?”

Despite often being almost as oblivious as his best bud, Nino caught on quickly here. “Right!” As he stood, he winked at the other two. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t, you two.”

In the kitchen, they found Sabine busy with making a fresh batch of cookies. She smiled at them and told them to help themselves to the spare goods from the bakery. 

Alya did so with gusto, eating a chocolatine with one hand while stacking cookies with the other. “God! Those two are way too cute together.”

“ _Disgustingly_ adorable, babe,” Nino confirmed. “How long do you think it’ll take before they notice the mistletoe above them?”

Sabine giggled as she left the room, platter in hand. “About as long as it’ll take you two to notice, I suppose.” 

Wide eyed they glanced up. Sure enough, a bright red mistletoe was dangling from the ceiling. They looked back at each other and Nino rubbed the back of his neck nervously. Rolling her eyes, Alya took the initiative. She crossed the space between them, cupped his face in her hands, and pressed her lips to his. After a brief moment of surprise, he was returning the kiss and more, arms wrapped around her waist to pull her close. 

She wasn’t sure how long they stood like that - maybe it was seconds, maybe it was minutes. In either case, she was breathless by the end of it. She jerked her head towards the door they had come in from and pulled Nino by the hand. “C’mon. Maybe Marinette has managed to form a complete sentence by now.” 

\---------------------------------

Meanwhile, in the storefront Sabine frowned. “Tom?” The large man turned to face her, despite the frantic push of customers. “Did we put a mistletoe up in the kitchen?”

He chuckled as he rang up another order. “Of course not! Otherwise we’d get nothing done.”

“...Strange.”

Back in the kitchen, Tikki, ladden with mistletoe leaves and wearing a couple berries on a collar, giggled to herself and went to find another spot to hide in.


	23. Startle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nino has a close call

The door closed behind Nino, shutting out the loud dance music and plunging the alley he found himself in back into darkness. The moon was bright above, but it was more by the occasional street lamp that he was finding his way back home. It wasn’t that far, and he could certainly use the walk after being stuck behind the DJ table for the past few hours. For his first time, he had really enjoyed it, even if he now had a ten minute walk home to look forward to.

Clashing metal startled him back into the moment and he whipped around. A trash can rolled forlornly down the alley, stopped only by its encounter with the wall. Completely still, Nino scanned the shadows, looking for any hint as to who - or what - had caused it. Hawkmoth was still on the loose, so an akuma was possible. _Then again_ , he thought, _they would’ve loudly announced themselves by now._ No, that just meant it was either an animal or a person. 

Slowly backing away, he called out, “Hello? Is anyone there?”

No response. Nino shrugged and turned back to where he had been heading. 

Although… if it were a mugger instead of an akuma, then no miraculous cure to heal him if things went bad. This thought now in his mind, he picked up his pace, only to find that now there were footsteps echoing behind him. With only a glance behind him to see a shadowy form twenty paces back, he bolted. 

He wasn’t that far from his home. If he was lucky, he could pull out his keys and slip inside before the other person caught up. If he wasn’t lucky… well, one thing at a time. 

After a short sprint, he skidded to a halt at the steps to his apartment, trembling hands struggling to pull out his keys. Just before he could manage it, they caught him. Two arms wrapped around his waist and he stumbled back under their weight. Under the lamp light, he got a better look at his assailant - about a head shorter than him, similar complexion, red haired, brown eyes, and it was Alya. He let out a rattling breath to calm his nerves.

“Babe. What the hell.” Despite himself, he matched her grin as she looked up into his eyes. 

She pulled back to cross her arms and give him a Look. “Well, I was _going_ to surprise you once your shift was done, but you didn’t tell me that you got to leave via secret back pass.”

“I didn’t know until I got there.” He held his hands up in a placating gesture. “Wait. You were there?”

“Duh, babe! I was not about to miss my boyfriend’s first real DJing gig.” She hugged herself and shivered. “So are we going to stand out here all night, or…?”

“Oh, right. Come on in!” He walked in after her, feeling loved despite what had felt like a near death experience.


	24. Date Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alya and Nino try to have a quiet night out, but things never quite go to plan, do they?

A table was tossed over the spot they had chosen to hide behind, crashing onto the floor not far from them. Alya eyes narrowed. She was doing her best to keep Nino safe despite still being in civilian form, but Ladybug and Chat Noir still hadn’t shown up yet. If she didn’t sneak away and find a spot to transform soon, the akuma might decide to get serious in her attempts to hurt people. 

She groaned. If only she’d been a little quicker getting to the waitress who had run off crying. Or maybe if she’d decided not to be in the same room as Chloe, they might have been safe enough that Nino would consent to splitting up and “heading home.” But no. Nino, bless his heart, had gotten it in his head that _he_ was the one protecting _her_ and he was absolutely stuck to her despite her best attempts so far to escape him. 

The situation was going to get worse before it could get any better and the great irony of it was a superheroine had been on the site from the start to handle it. Watching the akuma villain carefully, she waited until she was distracted before making her move. As the villain turned around to grab another object to throw, she grabbed Nino’s hand to make a dash for the exit. An angry screech warned her that they’d been spotted, but before she could do anything, Nino had pulled them to the ground. In the space they’d just been occupying, a pair of chairs sailed past and shattered against the wall. 

Alya was on her feet first, and pulled Nino up and forward as she cleared the remaining distance out of the room. She didn’t bother slowing down or looking back until they were a story down and had a chance to duck inside a side room. Back to the door and Nino by her side, she strained to hear what was happening on the other side of the door. Before long, the villain’s voice faded and she let out the breath she had been holding.

They crept out of the room, finding the halls empty now. “Okay, babe. You get out of here, I need to grab something before I can leave.”

Nino shook his head. “I’m _not_ about to let you go after that akuma, babe.” Alya’s heart skipped a beat. Had he finally pieced it together? “The Ladyblog can wait - you don’t need to be within arm’s reach of the akuma to get good footage.” 

She let out a sigh of relief. He hadn’t figured out she was Rena Rouge - which was both reassuring and vaguely annoying. “It’s not that! I left my purse back there!”

“We can come back for it after Ladybug and Chat Noir beat her.”

“And Rena Rouge,” she added, slightly annoyed.

“Y-yeah. And Rena Rouge.” 

Alya lifted an eyebrow and smirked. _Did he just **stutter?**_ “My my, Nino. Does Rena get you all bothered?”

His mouth said, “No!” But his blush betrayed him. At her disbelieving look he pinched his nose and said, “Look. Every time I’ve ever met her face to face she… flirts with me.” She laughed at him, which seemed to be of great relief to him. “I honestly have no idea why or even _how_ she can always pick me out of the crowd. But she finds me and she knows just the right buttons to push to make me a mess.” He let out a defeated sigh. “It’s embarrassing, babe.”

Patting him on the back she cooed, “Poor baby, getting hit on by superheroes.”

“Can we just… forget about it and get out of here?”

“Sure, sure.” A few minutes passed as they ever so slowly made their way out of the building. “So what do you think about Rena Rouge?”

“Babe, is this really the time?”

“Definitely! After all, we might end up seeing her today if we hang around here long enough.” She laughed at his groan.

“Honestly, I’m just glad you’re taking this well. Not many girls would be happy at anyone flirting with their boyfriends, especially not a superhero.”

_Hard to be jealous of myself, babe._ Out loud, she said, “I have more faith in my boyfriend than most. Now, what’s she like?”

“Right, you’ve never managed to get an interview with her, have you? I think you two would get along awesomely - she’s smart and funny and pretty.” He winked at her. “Not that she holds a candle to you though, babe. She’s like Chat in that she seems to really enjoy being a hero. She’s also flirty like he is, come to think of it.”

“Oh come on! Chat doesn’t flirt with just anyone you know - he only has eyes for his lady.”

“I guess that makes Rena Rouge the biggest flirt of the group then, huh?” Nino said absently as he poked his head around the corner, missing Alya’s eye twitch. The front door was unguarded and just like that they were outside, breathing in the cool fall air. 

“I’ll see you tomorrow, alright?” Alya said over her shoulder as she walked away.

“Wait, where are you going?”

“I’ve got stuff that I need to get to. Oh, I almost forgot.” She rushed back and gave him a brief kiss on the lips. Long enough that he could understand what was happening, but short enough that he’d want more. “I had fun tonight, akuma attacks excluded. Night!”

She left him a sputtering mess as she rounded the corner, searching for a place to hide. Trixx emerged from where ever he was hiding, a smug grin on his face.

“Something you want to say, Trixx?”

“No no, definitely not. Just admiring your handiwork is all.”

She rolled her eyes. No doubt she’d get teased later at prodding Nino for info about herself, but for now… “Trixx, let’s pounce!”


	25. Joyeux Noel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The holiday season is a busy one, but that doesn't stop Nino and Alya from seeing each other.

The sun had long since dipped below the horizon and despite the long, frantic day of preparations, Nino was still awake, illuminated only by the light of his phone. His only concession to the exhaustion he felt was that he was laying on his bed in his pajamas, even if he rested on top of blankets rather than under them. After all, he needed to be awake for a while longer if he wanted to pull this off. 

The fog of tiredness in his mind receded slightly when he got a facetime request. A smile came unbidden to his face.

“Heyyy, babe,” he croaked, surprised at himself for his loopy, sleep-deep voice. “We’re cutting it pretty close.”

“Keep it together, babe. Only ten more minutes to go.” She yawned. From what Nino could tell, she was also in bed, red hair fanned out around her head as she held the phone over her. “S’how was your day? Busy as mine?”

“Tons of last minute stuff - wrapping the last presents, preparing the dinner for tomorrow, visiting with the family that won’t be making it over. That kind of thing.” He stifled a yawn of his own before adding, “What about you?”

“Mom got called in to do a shift at the hotel, and dad still had work to do at the zoo. The animals there don’t get the day off either, you know? Which meant it was mostly just me and the siblings getting everything ready.” She sighed. “Mostly me, since the twins were too busy being little sapotis and Nora was at the gym for half the day.”

“That’s rough, dude. Will everyone be there tomorrow?”

“Definitely! Mom and dad put their feet down at work - they’ll have Christmas off at least. And not even Nora would go to the gym on Christmas day.”

They chatted for a while longer. Once Christmas break had started, they’d been kept pretty busy and hadn’t gotten the chance to see each other very often. There were mostly just these moments, whispering to each other over the phone until the early hours, all the better to avoid waking up either of their families. Even if they would make each other laugh too hard and nearly wake them up anyway.

Before long, Nino noticed the clock on his phone strike midnight. From her smile, Alya must have seen it too. 

“Joyeux Noel, Alya.”

“Joyeux Noel, Nino.”

Without another word, they hung up and finally let themselves fall asleep.


	26. Warm By the Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A continuation of Day 20 - Christmas Tree.

With the logs burning merrily in the fireplace, Alya had enough light to look around the cabin of Nino’s uncle and let herself paint over the drab surroundings by pretending what it might have been like in its heyday. She imagined a little Nino running around the place. She imagined the cabin full of life and sound and laughter, a far cry from the musty silence broken only by the roaring of the fire. 

“So,” she began, as much out of curiosity as a desire to strike up a conversation, “what did you do for fun out here?” 

He glanced out the window, where the snow was already coming down hard. “Well, me and my cousins liked to run around in the yard, or explore the woods. It might not be a big forest, but there is still plenty of secrets to be found out here. And besides, when you’re a kid, it all seems so much bigger than it is.”

“Hm… that option isn’t looking too hot right now, babe.” Even if she had wanted to go out into the cold - which she didn’t - her boots were more for style than for trudging through the snow. Admittedly, there wasn’t much snow right now, but that was quickly changing. “What else?”

Snorting, he replied, “‘Isn’t looking too hot’? I dunno, I think it looks pretty _cool_ outside.”

“God, you spend too much time with Adrien. His humor is rubbing off on you.” She rolled her eyes but they both began giggling. “But seriously, what else?”

He shrugged. “We didn’t really come out here to do much of anything, you know? It was more like a getaway, a place the family could hang out. We’ve kind spread too far apart for casual visits.” He scratched his chin thoughtfully, searching his memory. “Card games, I guess. The adults liked to play poker while we were outside. Drinking, smoking, talking while they thought we were out of earshot. But for us kids, when it got too dark and we had to come back inside, we usually played Go Fish.”

“Still got the deck in here somewhere?” She had plenty of experience with a bunch of card games under her belt, since she was often the one stuck with watching the twins growing up. 

“Sure, but…” 

“But what?”

“I’m _kinda_ a world renowned master of Go Fish, and I don’t want to absolute destroy an amateur like yourself.” He brought up her hand that he was holding and kissed the knuckle. “Sorry, babe.”

She knew she was being baited - he had that look in his eyes where she _knew_ he was teasing her for the sake of getting her fired up, but despite knowing all this, it worked all the same. “You’re going to regret those words, cappy.” She pointed toward the kitchen where she was guessing the deck was hidden. “Go get the cards. I’ll move a table in front of the fireplace so we’ll have some light.”

After shuffling the furniture around and dusting off the table, they began playing. The world outside faded to so much background noise as the night wore on and the fire continued to burn merrily.


	27. Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alya and Nino spending time with loved ones during the holiday.

“Hey, babe?” Nino yelled from a few rooms over. “You almost ready?”

“Just about. Gimmie a minute.” 

Placing the finishing touches on her hair, she stepped into their shared living room. He was hunched over his phone, browsing the internet and totally oblivious to the outside world. A grin spread across her face and she made a soft _pop_ sound with her lips to double check. Creeping forward until she was close enough, she lunged forward, slipping her arms around his neck and shoulders and firmly pressing a big kiss onto his cheek. Pulling back to admire her handiwork she watched him try to rub off the perfect maroon kiss stain from his cheek.

“Seriously, dude?” She had no response beyond cackling with delight. His face softened and he shook his head affectionately. “C’mon, I’m sure they’re ready for us by now.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Alya let go of him to walk into the kitchen and grabbed her coat from the table. “Do you have the kwami?”

“‘Course. Wayzz is sleeping in my coat pocket.” There was a pause as he stood up and caught up to her. “Wait. Did you lose Trixx? _Again_?” 

“You know as well as I do that Trixx likes to get himself into mischief!” Which was accurate. Granted, she usually egged him on or even took part in his pranks, but she wasn’t about to bring that up. 

“Were we talking about me?” Trixx asked, suddenly appearing right by her head. Her response died in her throat as she realized he was holding onto a deck of cards almost as big as he was.

“What are you doing with that?”

Trixx excitedly replied, “I need something to bring the other kwami! Plagg and Tikki brought some really cool stuff last time we all got together,” a wicked fanged grin spread across his face, “It’s a great opportunity to show them up! I’ve learned much of the ways of human magic.”

She noticed it was the Parisian-themed deck she had got on a whim on a date at the Eiffel Tower. _Out of all my decks, why that...?_ “Wayzz isn’t bringing anything.” 

“Actually,” Nino piped up, “my little dude asked me for something he could take.” Nino held up a CD filled with his best work. “I’m just carrying it for him. I even signed it”

“Darn it, that’s good,” Trixx whispered, pouting. He brightened up as he floated in front of Alya’s face. “Say, kit, could you do me a favor and put your name on this?”

Soon afterwards, they were in Nino’s car on their way to their friends’ house. With Adrien’s sizeable savings from modeling for most of his life - a career he had continued even as Marinette became more established in the fashion industry - they’d managed to afford a larger home than her and Nino. Alya wasn’t complaining, though. It meant that they had to host all of these gatherings since they had the space for it, which meant less clean up for Alya. 

Alya opened the door and called out to their friends, “Alright, kids, we’re here. You almost ready to party?”

They stepped out of the cold winter air and into a warm and cozy scene that she would have expected to have seen only in postcards and not in real life. Multicolored lights blinked in their rows along the walls, Christmas baubles were placed on every flat surface, sometimes even set up in makeshift scenes complete with fake snow decorations. Wafting through the air was the scent of cookies, which already had Alya’s mouth watering. Anything attached to the Dupain-Cheng name was delicious, even if Marinette didn’t technically have that name any more. But dominating the entire space was a _far_ too big Christmas tree practically sagging with all the ornaments placed on it and glared with aggressive Christmas spirit from all the tinsel and strung lights. She suspected Adrien’s hand in all of this - the boy was still drunk with freedom to decorate as he pleased and Marinette, normally sensible, didn’t have the heart to put her foot down on his enthusiasm. 

Speaking of their hosts, Marinette poked her head around the corner, her curiosity shifting to excitement. She wore an apron over her ugly red and green sweater, and her hands were covered in bulky oven mittens.

“Alya!” She threw her arms around Alya’s neck, exchanging cheek kisses. She reached out to pull Nino into the hug. “Nino, get over here! It’s been too long since I’ve seen you two! How are you doing?” 

At that point, Adrien slide into view, wide-eyed and covered in flour. He grinned before running forward to bowl into Nino, who just barely remained standing. 

“Dude!” They cried out simultaneously - both of them enthusiastic, though Nino’s was tinged with exasperation. Probably because of the flour that was now sticking to him.

“Take a seat, we’re almost done with the cooking.”

As they did so, Wayzz and Trixx emerged from their hiding places and dragged their gifts after them. 

Alya called after her kwami. “Ditching us like a bad date already?” 

“I’d love to take you with me, kit, but you’re too big to go inside the miraculous box.” He winked at her. “But don’t worry, I’ll be talking you up the whole time.”

Rolling her eyes, but secretly pleased that a bunch of immortals would end up thinking highly of her, Alya watched the kwami disappear through the ceiling. They were no doubt magically drawn to their home. The smile she wore became hollow, then wistful as she remembered her few encounters with the late Master Fu. At least now the kwami were all together again, safe and sound under their watchful care. 

Before long, their friends were back with cookies and hot chocolate and they could get back to catching up. It had been a long year, full of wild twists and revelations. Full of tears of joy and tears of pain. Full of happiness, and loss. But they had emerged more closely knit because of it. Each person here was almost like family to her. _Some aren’t that far from it, actually,_ she thought as she felt the engagement ring in her pocket, taken off for now to avoid spoiling their surprise. A hand wrapped around hers and Nino gave her a gentle, encouraging smile. 

“We have an announcement to make.”


	28. Loyalty

Alya took a step out of the school, frowning as she looked across the street towards the park. She was certain that he’d gone this way. With the gentle spring rain came fog, shrouding the otherwise open space. Fairly certain that Nino was somewhere out there, she opened her umbrella and began searching. If nothing else, she needed to find him before the rain got worse. But it wasn’t the weather that was weighing so heavily on her mind. 

As was often the case, it had all been Chloe’s fault. She was afraid that they were ‘taking Adrien away from her’, whatever that meant. After that display, it was clear that she was doing a good enough job of her own to push away her childhood friend, regardless of what the rest of the gang did. Alya wasn’t sure why she’d gone after Nino instead of Marinette - maybe even Chloe was starting to realize Adrien’s growing feelings for their pigtailed classmate. But verbally destroying his best friend instead? Low, to be sure, and very stupid to boot.

The rain began to pick up as she pulled her coat closer to herself, feet splashing through rapidly forming puddles. With the fog dampening the noise, it had become eerily quiet. She peered into the grey mists, but no one else was in the park - not with the weather becoming what it was. _That_ was the smart decision, but love doesn’t much care for smart decisions. 

After a few minutes of wandering she still hadn’t found any sign of him, and the rain was only getting worse. Just as she was starting to doubt if he was even in the park at all, the wind brought with it music to her ears. Following the sound, she found her boyfriend sitting with his knees drawn up to his chest. His head was buried in his arms, and even from this distance she could hear the faint music coming his headphones. She winced - he must be playing it pretty loudly then and she knew him well enough to know that it meant he was still hurting. 

She put her hand on his upper back, which jolted him out of the pit of sorrow he’d dug himself into. He raised his head and her heart broke at how red his eyes were. Normally, he didn’t let things get to him, but Chloe’s barbs had hit too close to home. 

“She’s wrong, you know. We all care about you. We love you for being you and that’s why we hang out with you.” No response. “You missed the best part of it. Adrien tore her to shreds protecting you.” His eyes briefly looked over to her before returning to staring into the fog. “...You know we all love you, right?” She nudged him and smiled. “Some of us more than others.” A flicker of a smile passed his face, but it swiftly returned to a dull frown.

The tree was keeping the ground relatively dry, so Alya took a seat beside him. Rain storm or no, she was going to stay next to him for however long he needed her to be.


	29. Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Waking up together.

The early morning sunlight filtered into their shared bedroom, despite the best efforts of their curtains. Alya began to stir from her deep sleep, but it was an uphill battle. Very few times in her life had she felt more comfortable than she had now. She pulled herself closer to the body she’d already been curled around and wrapped her arms around his waist. Nuzzling herself into his chest, she breathed deep of him and sighed. Caught somewhere between dreaming and conscious, it was with great reluctance that Alya opened her eyes. 

A ray of sunshine fell upon the bed, giving an ethereal glow to their sheets and their tangled bodies. Nino was still comfortably asleep and Alya lost track of how long she spent watching his bare chest rise and fall with his breathing, listening to his heartbeat. Neither of them had gotten dressed after last night, partially out of exhaustion and partially out of being done with clothes in general after their long, eventful yesterday. 

After either minutes or hours, Nino’s eyes fluttered open as he began to rub at them, yawning. Once his vision came back into focus, he blinked down at her, still wrapped around his waist. He chuckled, gently shaking her as he pulled her up towards him.

“Good morning, Mr. Lahiffe,” she whispered to him just before their lips met.

“Good morning, Mrs. Lahiffe,” he whispered back after they had parted.


	30. Missing You

Nino collapsed face first into bed, exhausted from the long day at the recording studio. He lifted his head and looked at the other side of the large bed - her side. It was just a shame that he couldn’t gush about how awesome it was to Alya. His mouth twitched downward in a frown before he shook his head. _It’s only for a month! And it’s not like we don’t talk-_

As if summoned by the thought, his phone began to vibrate from across the room. A burst of energy flushed out the drowsiness as he lurched out of bed to look for it. After some fumbling around, he found his phone and answered the facetime call, falling back into bed as the face of his sweetheart filled the screen. Where ever she was staying looked warm and cozy.

“Hey, babe! I see you haven’t burned down the house yet, so you’re doing good so far,” She teased, her wide grin settling into a more affectionate smile, “How’s it going on the homefront?”

“All quiet, babe.” He feigned nonchalance, but his excitement started to bleed through as he added, “Oh you know, just spent the day working with the most awesome rock n’ roller of the age, Jagged Stone!”

“That’s great! See, I told you that you’d barely notice I was gone.”

“Well, I know I’m not the only busy one. How about your trip to Rouen? Find anything conclusive about Joan of Arc?”

A fire ignited behind her eyes. “Yes! There’s no doubt about it - she was a previous Ladybug! I’m one for one on this trip so far, and it’s a great start to my article series. There’s still plenty more to see, but…” She sighed, frowning, “...but I’m going to be busy running around Rouen, then going to Orleans… I don’t think I’ll be able to call again until I’m in my hotel in Greece.”

He pulled at his hat, doing his best to hide his disappointment. “No worries, babe! It’s like you said, we’ll both be too busy to notice, right?”

Smiling sadly, she replied, “Yeah… right.” She perked up. “So, a whole day with Jagged Stone? Got any juicy gossip or tantalizing tales for me, sweetie?”

Dramatically glancing around the room, causing her to giggle, he said, “Yeah, babe, but what I say stays between us, okay? Our boy Jagged is-”

\-------------------------------------------

When the phone rang again, Nino had already settled into bed with the covers thrown over his head. He’d stayed up way longer than he should have waiting on her call, but if he didn’t go to sleep now he’d be regretting it in the morning. It had been with a heavy heart that he gone to bed, but as he searched bleary eyed for his phone, he wondered if maybe it would have been better to get the call tomorrow instead. _Well, too late for that now…_

He answered the phone in the middle of a yawn. “Hey, babe. How was the trip?”

With his eyes finally open again, he got a good look at his girlfriend. Alya didn’t seem much more awake than he was. There were bags around her eyes, her hair was a frazzled halo around her head, and her voice was sluggish. In spite of it all, some small amount of pep found its way into her voice as she started to tell her story.

“Godawful. Luggage was lost for a while. Then _I_ got lost in Sparta. I am only just now walking into my hotel and I _know_ it’s late where you are cause it’s late here too but I’m just so tired of everything but I need to be up early in the morning and I just wanted to hear your voice before going to sleep.” She ended, panting, having gone through that entire spiel in one breath. “I’m sorry. I know you’ve got to have an early morning too, but…” She dabbed at tears that were forming at the corners of her eyes.

As soothingly as he could manage, being half awake and all, he replied, “Hey… hey… It’s okay, Alya. I’ve got all the time in the world for you. To hell with Future Nino. I always thought he was a prick anyway.” This drew a laugh out of her which proved infectious. “So take it from the top. It sounds like a lot more went wrong than just getting lost. Care to share?”

Alya began talking, which sparked a conversation that would only end with both of them falling asleep while still on the phone, the faint sounds of each other carrying them into a deep sleep. In the morning, neither would remember which had fallen asleep first, but they didn’t care. It had been the best night of sleep - although also the shortest - they’d gotten since being apart.

\-------------------------------------------

The month passed… then another week past that and she still hadn’t come back. Which wasn’t surprising - the last time she’d called, she’d had to tell him that her additional funding had gone through. It was a mixed blessing. They’d both been excited because now she was getting to travel even further to Egypt, where she’d been theorizing one of the earliest Ladybugs had emerged. Yet… a full month of not seeing each other was truly starting to get to them. Days felt longer than they ever had before and neither of them felt fully comfortable in their living spaces. Nino felt like their home was far too quiet, even when he was pumping music through it. 

At this point, the only thing keeping him going was the fact that she’d be back here by this time tomorrow. There was nothing he wanted more at this point than to have her in his arms again. He sighed as he continued to toss and turn. It was the only thing that had kept him going throughout the day, but now the intense yearning was keeping him from sleep.

His phone began to ring and he picked it up faster than he ever had. It wasn’t a facetime, but it was _her_ and that was all that was important. “Babe?”

“Hey.” Her voice was heavy with exhaustion. “I can’t sleep, what about you?” 

He shook his head before remembering she couldn’t see him. “I’ve been trying for the past hour. No luck.” He took a shuddering breath, running his fingers through his short hair. 

“Just one more night, okay?” He wasn’t sure if she was comforting him or her. 

“Right… right.” 

They chatted for a while longer, but eventually even their jittery nerves began to give way under the weight of exhaustion. After their farewells, Nino settled into a fitful sleep.

\-------------------------------------------

Next week, he woke up for a brief moment and tightened his grip around her waist ever so slightly. Before he began to dream again, he buried his face into her hair and breathed in. 

She smelled like home.


	31. New Years Kiss

Nino was frantically searching through the crowd, hoping, _praying_ , to see a bob of red hair in the dense throng of people. 

Maybe it was the drinks that had separated them. Nino didn’t normally drink a lot, but it was New Year’s Eve - if ever there was a time to get buzzed and have a good time, now was it. That reasoning wasn’t any consolation to him at the moment with the slightly blurred vision and the clouded, sluggish thoughts. It was pretty sucky that his usual temperance was rewarded by having a terrible tolerance for alcohol those few times he let himself cut loose. 

It could have been the company. Chloe may have been a brat, but she’d mellowed out (ever so slightly) in the past few years. The very fact that the whole gang, and not just Adrien, had been invited to the party was proof of that. A lot of his time at the party - when not joking with his best friends - had been spent rubbing elbows with local business owners and prominent musicians. He’d already snagged a few business cards for prospective gigs in the next couple months, so he wouldn’t be leaving the party empty handed. Again, that was no consolation now as he stood on his toes in the hopes of tracking down his lady love. 

He bit down on his lip as he risked a glance at the clock, dodging dancing couples as the seconds ticked past. He was refraining from calling out her name and causing a scene - Adrien had vouched for them to get them in and he didn’t want to do his best bud dirty by getting on Chloe’s bad side. Just as he completed the thought, he heard Alya’s voice over the music.

“Nino?!” A few heads swiveled towards the voice, but most people were fine to ignore the speaker as just another over excited drunk. Nino was not one of them.

Hurrying in the direction of the voice, he slammed into Alya. They bounced off each other before a wide grin split their faces. A grin that lasted only for a moment before they pulled each other into a tight embrace to watch the last few seconds of the year tick past.

When the clock struck midnight, they shared the first kiss of the new year. They’d brought in New Years together before, always with an unspoken promise to work and make their love stronger in the coming three hundred sixty five days. And when they sealed that promise with a kiss, Nino knew there was nothing this year could throw at them that they couldn’t handle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've finally finished up with DJ Wifi December! I certainly feel like I have a better understanding of this ship now. It's been a fun diversion and I thank everyone who has made it this far. I hope you've enjoyed reading these as much as I enjoyed writing them!


End file.
